Posting agreement discussions are ongoing -- the first day was on the 26th and will continue to the 27th. NPB general secretary Atsushi Ihara told reporters that talks after the first day were between difficult and going well. He also said he felt it would be best if current discussions in New York led to resolution.

Fox Sports' Jon Paul Morosi also posted a few bits about what the MLB might be pushing. A snip:

... With talks resuming this week, the MLB commissioner's office could choose to exercise its considerable leverage by negotiating the price point downward. If the figure was 50 percent in the last proposal, MLB can declare the negotiation a success if the Japanese club's take ultimately drops to 40 or 30 percent.

The union for Japanese players would like Tanaka -- and others -- to have the ability to choose among the top two or three bidders. Over time, though, the JPBPA has been reluctant to strike or take legal action in order to obtain that right.

"Striking is too traumatic -- they did it once -- and court takes too long," said Robert Whiting, an author and expert on Japanese baseball. MLB and NPB know this and can exploit the JPBPA's reluctance to use those forms of leverage.

Similarly, MLB has a better bargaining position than NPB. Clubs such as Rakuten know their superstar players are likely to sign with MLB clubs once they become international free agents. (For Tanaka, that would happen after two more seasons.) The posting system is a very lucrative way for NPB teams to be compensated for losing their superstars; the Japanese teams don’t want to lose that windfall.